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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958532">Edric's Bright Idea</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amity_towards_all/pseuds/Amity_towards_all'>Amity_towards_all</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hair Dyeing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:16:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amity_towards_all/pseuds/Amity_towards_all</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a hearing a hundred little comments from her mother about how lovely her older siblings' hair is, Amity finally gives in to the pressure to dye her hair green.</p><p>Ed can see how anxious and despondent his little sister is about it. He wishes he could do something, anything, to help her, but nothing he tries works out. Then, just in the nick of time, Ed comes up with the perfect way to cheer Amity up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight &amp; Edric Blight, Amity Blight &amp; Edric Blight &amp; Emira Blight, Amity Blight &amp; Emira Blight, Amity Blight &amp; Odalia Blight, Edric Blight &amp; Emira Blight, Edric Blight &amp; Odalia Blight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>166</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Edric's Bright Idea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ed sat down for dinner and saw that Amity was already there looking glum. She’d been looking that way a lot since her birthday party. Ed and Em hadn’t been there, but they’d gathered after the fact that Amity had been forced by their parents to send her best friend Willow away. Permanently.</p><p>At first, he and Em been disappointed in their little sister. They never would've let their parents make them do something like that even at her age.</p><p>But after talking it over, they realized that they were being unfair to Amity. They’d never been <em>asked</em> to do something like that in the first place. And if they had, they would’ve had each other for support, whereas Amity had been alone. Maybe if they’d stayed at the party rather than just wishing Amity a happy birthday and giving her a present beforehand, things would’ve gone differently. But it's not like they could've known what was going to happen, right? And why would they want to stay at a party with a bunch of little kids?</p><p>With their dad away on business and Em in bed with some kind of stomach virus, Ed and Amity only had to wait for their mom, who was out late working.</p><p>“Hello, children,” they heard their mother call out as she made her way to the dining room. Once she got there, she lingered over Ed and tousled his hair.</p><p>“Such lovely hair, Edric,” she said. “Such a lovely color.”</p><p>Amity’s head sank even further. Ed had heard their mom compliment Amity’s hair a few times, but never its color. And lately she’d taken to complimenting Ed’s and Em’s hair, and specifically its color, every chance she got, and always in front of Amity. His little sister had clearly picked up on it. And each time their mother did it, it made her a little bit more visibly upset.</p><p>Ed wanted to tell their mom to stop, but what could he say, “I want you to stop complimenting me”?</p><p>Their mom sat down. “You know, Amity, I’ve been thinking of how mature and responsible you’ve gotten.”</p><p>Amity looked up. “Really?”</p><p>“Yes! Absolutely. In fact, I think you’re old enough to make some more choices of your own.”</p><p>What was she talking about? She didn’t even let Amity choose her own friends!</p><p>“For example, you could make some more choices about your appearance. Like picking out some more of your own clothes. Within reason, of course.”</p><p>“Really?” Amity said, starting to smile. Their mother was very particular about her clothing.</p><p>“In fact, I was just thinking, you’ve gotten so mature that there are certain things I’d let you do that I <em>never</em> would have let your older siblings do at your age.”</p><p>“Really?!” Amity said, bouncing in her chair. Her mother rarely compared her favorably to them.</p><p>“Yes! For example, if you came to me and said you wanted to… oh, I don’t know, dye your hair, for example, I would even let you do that!”</p><p>“Oh,” Amity said, her voice quivering. All the excitement she’d just been showing vanished in a flash.</p><p>“I never would’ve let your siblings do that at your age.”</p><p>As he looked at his sister’s face at that moment, Ed clenched his fist under the table without even realizing it.</p><p>“I think your hair looks great,” Ed said.</p><p>“Well, who said it didn’t, Edric?” their mom said. “I was only bringing up dyeing her hair as an example.”</p><p>Amity was staring at the table and blinking rapidly. Were her eyes glistening a little?</p><p>“Mom,” she said after a few moments of silence. “Actually… I-I <em>have</em> been… thinking about what it would be like if I dyed my hair… now that you mention it.”</p><p>Ed gasped. What was she saying?</p><p>“Oh?” their mom said. “What color?”</p><p>Ed almost rolled his eyes. As if she didn’t know.</p><p>“Well, I was thinking about dyeing it green. Like you and Ed and Em.”</p><p>“Oh? Well, I think that would look just lovely on you, Amity. And we’d all match! Wouldn’t that be nice?”</p><p>Now, Amity was clearly on the verge of tears.</p><p>“Y-you’d better take some time to think this over,” Ed said. “It’s a big decision.”</p><p>“Oh, Edric, don’t be so dramatic,” their mom said. “Hair dye can be reversed easily. Of course, it’s <em>your</em> choice, dear. Do <em>you</em> want to dye your hair?”</p><p>Amity started to sniffle. Ed wished she’d start crying. Then their mom wouldn’t be able to keep pretending that she wasn’t picking up on her daughter’s distress, and maybe she’d back off. But Amity kept it together.</p><p>“I want to do it,” Amity managed to get out.</p><p>“Well, if that’s what <em>you</em> want, then I think it’s a great idea!”</p><p>“Amity, I think your hair looks good the way it is,” Ed said. “And wouldn’t it be boring for all of us to match?”</p><p>“Now, Edric, your sister has made a decision. She has a right to decide how she wants to look.”</p><p><em>But it wasn’t her decision!</em> Ed wanted to yell out. Not really, anyway. It was so obvious that she didn’t want to do this! But if Amity wouldn’t say that, what could he say?</p><p>“Mom,” Amity said. “I… I’m not hungry. Could I please go to my room?”</p><p>“Oh of course, darling. I hope you didn’t catch whatever it is your sister has.”</p><p>Amity ran off to her room, and Ed guessed that she was going to be crying as soon she got there. He felt terrible for her, and furious at his mom. But he knew blowing up at her wouldn’t accomplish anything.</p><p>“Mom,” he said. “Amity seemed really scared about dyeing her hair, didn’t she?”</p><p>“Well, Edric, trying new things is often scary, but that’s how we grow. Your sister made a decision, and I expect you and Emira to support her completely.”</p><p>“But…”</p><p>“But what?”</p><p>Ed didn’t know what to say. He sighed. “Nothing, I guess.”</p>
<hr/><p>Ed thought about what his mom had done. This wasn’t like what had happened with Willow, where their parents had just forced Amity to do what they’d wanted. In that case, the two of them could at least <em>claim</em> that they were acting in their daughter’s own best interests. But in this case, their mother couldn’t claim that making Amity dye her hair was necessary for her future success or whatever. It was just something she wanted. So instead she’d manipulated her. That almost felt worse.</p><p>Maybe if Em had been there she would’ve known what to do, or they could’ve figured out something together. Had their mother chosen today to do this because one of them was out of commission? Maybe together they could still figure something out. Ed went over to Em’s room.</p><p>“How’re you feeling?” he asked.</p><p>Em, who had a glyph on her stomach to help with her symptoms, groaned. “Better than a few hours ago, at least. But what’s with you? You look down.”</p><p>“Well, at dinner, Mittens told us that she’s going to dye her hair. Green.”</p><p>“Oh.” Em sighed. "I always liked her hair."</p><p>Ed nodded. They both did. They sometimes teased Amity, maybe more than they should, but <em>never</em> about her hair.</p><p>Em tried to put on a happy face. “But, hey, it’ll look kind of cool green, won’t it? And we’ll all match!”</p><p>“Don’t say that!” Ed snapped.</p><p>“Chill out! What’s your problem?”</p><p>“You don’t understand. She doesn’t want to do it. She’s only doing it because of Mom.”</p><p>“You mean Mom’s forcing her to dye her hair? That’s terrible!”</p><p>“Well… not exactly.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>Ed tried to explain, but Em still didn’t quite understand. He couldn’t quite get across how their mom had manipulated Amity or how upset she seemed about the whole situation.</p><p>“So, she’s a little scared,” Em said after Ed tried to explain things to her. “I was a little scared too before I got my ears pierced.”</p><p>Ed was frustrated. Usually he and Em were so in sync. If only she’d been there to see it.</p>
<hr/><p>The next morning, Ed wondered whether he might be wrong. Maybe this really was what Amity wanted, and she was just having a natural reaction to a big change. What right did he have to second-guess her decision?</p><p>But any doubts he had vanished when he saw Amity at breakfast. Sleeping on it hadn’t lifted her spirits at all. She looked even more miserable than the night before, and with an added look of resignation.</p><p>“Edric,” their mother said as she was about to leave for work. “I’m going to be working late again. I need you to take Amity to the store to get her hair dye.”</p><p>“But… but I have stuff to do after school,” Ed said. “I don’t have time to go to the store.”</p><p>“Now, Edric, I would’ve thought I could count on you to do this one little thing for your sister. I don’t ask you or Emira to do much.”</p><p>“But–”</p><p>“No more of that!” Then her mother shook her head. “Oh, I understand. I should’ve realized it earlier.”</p><p>What? What had she realized? Had their mom truly been oblivious to her daughter’s distress and only now picked up on it? No, that was impossible.</p><p>“Edric, I’m disappointed. You and Emira have never included your sister as much as I wished you would. And now you don’t want her to dye her hair because you want to maintain that mark of distinction between the two of you and her. Isn’t that it?”</p><p>Ed gasped. And so did Amity, but she did it while looking at Ed angrily. No, Amity couldn’t be buying this, could she?</p><p>“No!” Ed yelled out. “That’s not it! That’s ridiculous!”</p><p>“Then why can’t you support your sister in <em>her</em> decision?”</p><p>“I… I… fine, I’ll take her,” Ed said sullenly.</p>
<hr/><p>At the store, Amity still looked miserable and frightened.</p><p>“Ed,” she said. “Do you think my hair will look good green?”</p><p>Ed considered how to respond. What he really wanted to say was "no", but he figured that was probably a bad idea.</p><p>“I think your hair would look good in any color.”</p><p>Amity didn’t say anything.</p><p>Ed crouched down to meet her eye level, although Amity was still looking at her shoes rather than meeting his eyes. “You know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”</p><p>Amity hesitated for a moment, but then said, “I do want to.”</p><p>Ed sighed. He wasn’t going to be able to stop this, was he? He’d hoped that with the two of them alone, Amity might tell him that she’d changed her mind, and then he could take her home. Maybe if he and Em had included her more over the years, she’d be more comfortable with him now and would have. Maybe if they'd included her more, she'd have an easier time believing that her hair color didn't set her apart from the rest of them.</p><p>Ed patted Amity on the shoulder. If he couldn’t stop this, maybe the best thing he could do at this point was to just be supportive, like their mom had said.</p><p>“It’s going to look really good, Mittens!” he said, feigning enthusiasm with difficulty.</p><p>Amity nodded. “Ed,” she said. “This might sound silly, but..."</p><p>"Go on, you can tell me."</p><p>"After I do this, I… I’ll still be ‘me’, right?”</p><p>“Of course! This doesn’t change who you are.”</p><p>Amity sniffled. “OK.”</p><p>Ed went to the shelf with the hair dye and found the shade of green that matched his and Em’s hair. He turned and looked at Amity one more time. The way she looked, he was amazed that she was managing to hold back her tears instead of sobbing.</p><p>Could he really get this dye? But what would refusing to do it now accomplish? It would only delay things for a few hours, and maybe the easiest thing for Amity would be to just get it over with.</p><p>Why did Amity have to let their mom manipulate her like this? But he knew that wasn’t fair. She was just a little kid, and one who’d recently been separated from her best friend, which hadn’t helped her confidence any. <em>He</em> was the big sibling. He should’ve protected her from this. But he didn’t know how. He just wished he could do something.</p><p>Ed turned back to the shelf. But this time he noticed another box of hair dye just a little to the left of the one that matched his and Em’s shade. It was lighter, and maybe a little bluer? It was <em>so</em> familiar. Where had he seen it before?</p><p>Now he remembered! It was from the cover of <span class="u">The Good Witch Azura</span>. Amity loved that book! When she’d first gotten it, she’d carried it around with her everywhere. He and Em had seen that cover so many times they could never forget it. Amity still talked about that book incessantly. Honestly, it was pretty annoying.</p><p>Ed’s hand lingered over the box that matched his shade, but his eyes stayed on the other box.</p><p>“Ed,” Amity said with a whimper in her voice. “Did you find the right one?”</p><p>For the first time since the night before, Ed smiled. “Yeah, I think I did.”</p>
<hr/><p>Ed and Amity got home to find Em in the living room. She looked like she was back to her usual self after her illness, but the moment she saw the expression on her little sister’s face, her own expression lost any sign of cheerfulness. Now she finally understood what Ed had been trying to tell her the night before.</p><p>“How’re you feeling, Em?” Ed asked.</p><p>“I’m fine now,” she said, though she didn’t sound like it right then.</p><p>Em jumped up and ran over to Amity’s side with a forced smile. “Hey, Mittens, your hair’s going to look really good after this! I promise! OK?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Amity said meekly.</p><p>Em took the bag from Ed and got out the box of hair dye.</p><p>“Ed, you dope!” she said. “You got the wrong shade of green!”</p><p>“Oh, whoops!” he said, trying to suppress a smile.</p><p>“What are you smiling about? You have to go back to the store!”</p><p>But Amity was just staring intently at the box. Clearly, she’d instantly made the connection upon seeing the color. Her mouth was agape, and her eyes were wide as saucers.</p><p>“Wait!” Amity yelled out. “I-I want <em>that</em> color!” She started jumping up and down and pointing at the box with a big smile. “It’ll still match the rest of you, right?”</p><p>“Sure!” Ed said. “After all, Mom’s hair color doesn’t match ours exactly. Actually, I think that shade might be a little closer to Mom’s than ours is.”</p><p>Em looked at Ed with a raised eyebrow. It <em>clearly</em> wasn’t.</p><p>“Em, I want to put it on right now! Can you help me?”</p><p>Em’s brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the abrupt change in Amity’s demeanor. Then, it dawned on her. After all, she’d seen Amity carrying around that book too.</p><p>She glanced in Ed’s direction and grinned. “OK, Mittens, let’s put it on right now!”</p>
<hr/><p>Once the dye job was finished, Em called for Ed to come to Amity's room to see it. Ed was stunned, and Amity looked ecstatic! Happier than Ed had seen her since before her birthday party.</p><p>"Doesn't it look cool?!" Amity said.</p><p>"Yeah!" Ed answered. "It looks amazing!"</p><p>"Really great!" Em said.</p><p>Amity jumped off her bed and ran to grab <span class="u">The Good Witch Azura</span> from her shelf. Ed and Em took that as their cue to leave.</p><p>Then, as they were walking out of her room, Ed heard Em sniffle. He turned to look at her, which made Em abruptly turn her head away. But Ed could see her wiping her eyes.</p><p>"Hey," Ed said. "What's wrong?"</p><p>"Nothing," she said, her voice wavering. "It's just… I kind of miss the old color. I was used to it."</p><p>Ed frowned. "Yeah, me too. But look how happy she is now! That's what's important, right?"</p><p>Em looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, that's what's important!"</p>
<hr/><p>The three Blight siblings waited in the living room for their mother. Ed and Em were worried about how she’d react, especially Ed.</p><p>But Amity surprisingly didn’t seem to be giving it any thought. She was blithely reading <span class="u">The Good Witch Azura</span> for what seemed to the twins like the hundredth time at least, but she was just as absorbed as if she were reading it for the first.</p><p>They heard the door open, and their mom walked in. “Hello, children. I can’t stay for long; I have a dinner meeting. But I just had to see Amity’s new hair!”</p><p>Ed and Em studied their mom’s expression as she looked at Amity. She was clearly surprised, but they weren’t able to tell whether it was in a positive or negative way. Then her gaze turned to Ed.</p><p>“Oh, Edric, I thought I could at least trust you to get the right shade of green.” Then, she turned to Amity. “But it <em>does</em> suit you so well! You look wonderful, darling!”</p><p>“Uh huh,” Amity said, paying her little attention.</p><p>Her gaze turned back to the twins. “In fact, I wonder how <em>you</em> two would look in that shade.”</p><p>Ed and Em looked at each other and grimaced.</p><p>“Well, I’d better be off. And Amity, enough with that silly book. Starting tomorrow, I don’t want to see you with a book in your hand unless it’s a textbook. Understand?”</p><p>“Yeah, Mom,” Amity said, still focused on her book.</p><p>Once she’d left, Ed and Em breathed a sigh of relief, but Ed wondered whether their mom’s opinion of Amity’s hair even mattered now. She’d manipulated Amity into saying that she wanted to dye her hair with her unspoken but clear disapproval of its color, but now it looked like Amity didn’t care a bit what their mom thought of her hair, at least for the moment.</p><p>Em looked at Ed and said, “Nice job!”</p><p>Ed gave her a sly smile. “I don’t know what you mean.”</p><p>Em laughed, and Amity just kept reading her book, wide-eyed, paying neither of them any attention.</p>
<hr/><p>Later that night, Ed and Em passed by the living room once more and saw that Amity had put down the book and was swinging around a broomstick she’d found that she was pretending was a staff.</p><p>Ed caught Amity’s eye, and she stopped playing for a moment as she studied him intently. It was a little disconcerting.</p><p>“Ed,” she said. “You got the <em>wrong</em> dye at the store today.” She said it slowly and deliberately, as if trying to piece something together, with just a hint of upward inflection at the end of the statement.</p><p>“Yeah,” Ed said.</p><p>“By mistake,” she said, once again with an inflection somewhere between a statement and a question.</p><p>“Yeah, pretty silly of me." Ed was trying to stop himself from smiling, but he couldn't. "I’m just glad it worked out OK anyway! ”</p><p>Amity looked at him intently for a moment longer but then took on a carefree expression and a big smile of her own. “Yeah, it did!” she said.</p><p>Ed and Em walked away, chuckling, as Amity went back to playing with her broomstick.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This ended up being pretty serious, but I wrote a more lighthearted, adventurous take on the Blight siblings <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26463562/chapters/64481833">here</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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